Family Secrets Redux
by JWolf28
Summary: How everyone meets Natasha's son, Dmitri.
1. Phil Coulson

**A/N: So this is actually a rewrite of a fic by the same name that I posted forever ago. I'd been thinking about coming back to it for a while and I finally got there. I'm going to revise what I've got done already and then I've got a bunch of new stuff to add, so stay tuned!**

Phil Coulson had known the Black Widow was bad news from the time the file landed on his desk- her kill count told him that much- but he also knew that she must have had some redeemable quality to her because from his intel, she'd run away from her former employers and was now working freelance. The problem was that the Council had issued a kill order and pretty much every agent in the office was hardwired to obey or die. Key words being pretty much.

This was why when Clint brought her in instead of killing her, Coulson hadn't been the least bit surprised. His best agent was great in the field, but a softie at heart. Seeing a tired and worn twenty-two year old Black Widow had killed his resolve and he ended up bringing her in, which was exactly what the senior agent had been secretly hoping for. Unfortunately, the archer's faith in the assassin made him blind to her actions, and while Coulson was all for people being turned to the correct side, he wasn't stupid enough to trust them right off the bat. Which was why it was Coulson that tailed her one night when she snuck out of her cell and went off base.

The only had to follow her for a little while before she was at an apartment and shoving a key in the lock, carefully looking around before entering. Phil had to breathe a sigh of relief at that. He was more than the regular agent he looked like, having had years of training and learning to blend in with the shadows, but she was the Black Widow for god's sake! As much as he was loath to admit it, her skill set was more than a little daunting. Thankfully, those years training also meant that he knew how to get into the apartment she'd just entered undetected, and he did so flawlessly.

To say he was shocked to hear voices at the end of the hall after disabling the security system and creeping in would be an understatement. He'd half expected her to be alone and contacting her old agency, so he stuck the shadows of the dark apartment and watched. The Widow smiled and thanked whoever was there, a young man by the looks of it, and passed him some cash. The man smiled and left, telling the Widow that he'd be back in thirty, then took off. The Russian only nodded at him and Coulson crept soundlessly forward to get a better look at the scene in front of him and felt the shock down to his core when he saw the woman holding a brown haired baby. It was nodding off in her arms as she sang him a Russian lullaby and Coulson couldn't find it in him to break them apart just yet. Half an hour later, when the other man came back, Widow left and the agent snuck into the baby's room. He- if the Mommy's Little Prince onesie was to be believed- couldn't have been more than a week old, and as Coulson stared down at him, he woke, and stared right back at him with eyes identical to a certain assassin's. There were a few things that Agent Phil Coulson knew in that moment. One, this tiny boy was an innocent civilian caught in a bad situation. Two, he was most definitely the Widow's son. Three, he was likely the only person on the planet that the Widow cared about, and four, Coulson wasn't going to let them be separated, no matter what.

He took off as silently as he'd come in and tried to figure out how to he was going to broach the subject with his prisoner. He easily decided that quicker was better and confronted her the next day. She was lounging in her cell when he turned off the cameras and snuck into the room, helping himself to the metal chair across from her. "How old is he?"

Widow looked up, unimpressed. "Hawk? I'd put him somewhere in his mid-twenties. But shouldn't you already know that, Mr. SHIELD Agent?"

Coulson let out a breath of a chuckle. "No, your son, I know you have." He paused to let that sink in. "He has your eyes, by the way."

Were in not for the cuffs around her wrists and ankles keeping her securely tied to the bed, Coulson had no doubt that she would have been across the room and snapping his neck before he could take his next breath. As it was, he was pretty sure her glare was deadly, and her almost amused façade had dropped in an instant. "Touch him and I will end you."

The senior agent held his hands up in the classic "I surrender" pose and offered a kind smile. "I'm not going to hurt you or your son. I just need a few answers so I can help you. Okay?" She nodded reluctantly and Coulson put his hands down. "How old is he?"

"Almost three months."

"He looked a lot smaller than that."

"He was almost a month premature. Healthy, just small, thank god."

Coulson nodded, filing the information for a health profile later. "Name."

"Dmitri."

"Who's the man that takes care of him."

"Just someone I pay well to look after him seeing as I'm tied up here." She smirked, hiding the terror in her eyes behind humor. "Literally."

Coulson gave another nod. "Okay. Well, I'm going to go about getting you transferred out of here to somewhere safe. We'll get Dmitri to you very shortly after that. Sound good?"

Widow looked shocked. "Why would you help me?"

Coulson gave a soft smile. "You defected from a powerful and terrifying corporation because you loved you son enough to get him out of that life. You deal with not seeing him for most of the day so he will be protected from yet another powerful and terrifying organization so you won't have to lose him.

"I'm helping you because that boy deserves a mother and you are a mother that deserves to be in her son's life. I'm not going to take that from you because you were brought into a bad situation as a child, and I will do whatever it takes to protect and innocent boy. And that innocent boy is going to need his mother. That's why I'm helping you." He stood and straightened his suit. "I'll be back soon to transfer you." He turned to leave, but paused on his way out. "I'm going to need names for both you. I'll get your old one for your file later, but I need something new for both of you. He can keep his first name, but I'm going to need you to come up with something your old agency won't recognize."

She didn't even need to think. "Natasha Alianovna Romanoff and Dmitri Nikolai Romanoff."

Coulson nodded and left.

**A/N: Thoughts?**


	2. Maria Hill

**A/N: Watching Endgame has really reignited my passion for Avengers fanfic. I'm really excited to be fixing up this fic because it's always been one of my favorites and I really feel like I've got a good flow going. Hope you guys enjoy!**

To say that Maria Hill was steaming mad would be the understatement of the century, and she did little to hide it as she stormed into Agent Coulson's office and dumped a file onto his desk. Unruffled, he only heaved a put-upon sigh and looked up at her. "Agent Hill, it's always such a pleasure."  
She rolled her eyes, a frown marring her features, his sarcastic reply doing nothing to stop her. "I don't suppose you'd care to tell me why you've transferred the Widow to another location? One that- very conveniently- happens to be a safe house generally used for Council members. It's secure and comfortably, only one of those things being something that she needs, and we both know that it isn't the latter."

Coulson frowned back up at her, clearly perplexed at her anger. "I didn't think anyone care. Fury certainly didn't; he signed the paperwork. So why do you?"

Maria could only stare at him completely baffled. Wasn't it obvious? "Because she's a killer! Barton should have put her down like the animal she is in the first place, but he didn't and now she's our mess to clean up. Yet now, she's treated to beachfront property in Florida, enjoying the sun and surf when she should be six feet under. It's more than a little strange and intend to get to the bottom of it, because you, Agent Coulson, are not one to be swayed by a pretty face." She plopped down in the chair in front of his desk, staring at him imploringly. "Please, Phil. If she has something on you, tell me. I can help you."

If anything, the man in front of her seemed amused. "We're going on a field trip. Wheels up in ten." With that, he left, presumably to orchestrate this sudden trip, leaving Maria gaping after him like a fish out of water.

A couple hours later, there were at a beachfront property in Florida that the younger agent recognized all too easily, making her dig her heels in. "No way in hell am I going in there. She could probably kill me just by looking at me funny, and I won't die because you've clearly gone soft."

Coulson frowned at her. "I resent the accusation. But regardless, it's not like that. You'll see."

Maria was hesitant, but the calm way the other agent was dealing with the whole situation was enough to convince her to give him at least a little trust, and she followed him up the drive and towards the house. At the door, he knocked in a patter that she took care to memorize, and waited for the answering "It's open," to walk in. As they did, Maria took the chance to look around the house, going over the floorplan in her head. Three bed, two bath, living room at the front, kitchen in the back overlooking the ocean. Only a short walk to the beach and included a Jacuzzi on the deck. It was two stories with an office, fitness center and entertainment room upstairs, and all the bedrooms as well as the kitchen and living room downstairs. Details she'd need to know in case the need for a quick escape arose, like Maria had no doubt it would.

What she noticed quickly, though was that knick-knacks and paintings had been added to what was normally a cold, empty house, and it seemed awful homey for an assassin that had never been out of the room. She decided not to bring it up but filed the information away for later. It was a short walk into the kitchen and the Russian's smile surprised her, though it did drop as soon as she saw who was accompanying the other agent. "Hey, Phil. Want to explain what's going on? I thought we weren't going to tell anyone from SHIELD."

Coulson offered her the same warm smile the assassin had initially worn, and replied with, "Agent Hill, here was being nosey, and not in the way that Clint is. She wasn't going to drop it. So, I thought she ought to meet the people she's spying on." That made Maria's eyes widen a little. People? Wasn't the Widow the only person living there?

Widow hesitated, biting her lip in what looked to be genuine concern, bringing on a whole new round a confusion for Maria, who still had no idea what in the actual hell was going on. "How do we know we can trust that she won't run off and tell the Director and the Council?"

"Because once she understands the situation, she's going to understand the position you're in."

That left the agent a little miffed, to say the least. "She is standing right here and can be asked these questions herself."

The Widow stood up a little straighter, tossing the dishtowel she was holding aside and facing Maria straight on. "Okay. Tell me why I can trust you."'

"We both know I can't do that. Until I know this situation, you can't trust me, and something tells me that no matter what I say, you're not going to believe me anyway until I prove that trust."

Green eyes bore into blue and Maria forced herself not to shudder at the intensity, but it was over quickly, and the redhead smirked. "I like her, Phil."

The other agent smiled. "I thought you might."

It was a short walk to the living room that had been walled off from the entry hall, but was still in sight of the kitchen, and Maria watched with more than a little shock as the assassin moved to a play pen in the middle of the room, and picked up the brown-haired boy from where he'd been dozing. He rested comfortably on her hip, blinking drowsily at the new person in the room with big green eyes, before giving her a big toothless smile. "Agent Hill, this is my son Dmitri."

She almost choked. "Son? When…"

"He was born before Clint brought me in. He's almost seven months old now."

Dmitri babbled something and grabbed at the necklace his mother was wearing, causing her to coo and him and press a kiss to him temple. Maria frowned, completely thrown for a loop. "Who are you and what have you done with the Black Widow?"

The other woman smiled and held out her free hand. "I'm Natasha Romanoff and I'm still the Black Widow."

Maria, completely at a loss for what else to do, shook Natasha's hand, and spent the rest of the afternoon getting to know mother and son.


	3. Clint Barton

**A/N: Hey, guys, back at it with another chapter of Family Secrets. Hope you enjoy Clint's first meeting with Dmitri.**

Clint unlocked to the door to his partner's apartment, using the key she'd given him for 'emergencies only'. As far as he figured, sneaking in to set up a surprise birthday party seemed as good a reason as any to use that key. He had been more than a little shocked at the text from Coulson asking if he'd gotten Natasha anything for her birthday because of course she wouldn't let him know. They'd been working together for a year and a half now, and while it seemed like she trusted him more than most, she still had more walls up than he'd care to admit. Still, this was progress, and if he could manage to set this up without getting shot, he'd definitely consider this a win. He was hoping she'd still be in bed given that their last mission had concluded the day before and had ended in a couple scrapes and bruises for him, and a sprained wrist and cracked ribs for her. The whole things had been rather exhausting and had it not been for Phil's text that morning, Clint would still be holed up at his own place in a nest- pun intended- of blankets, dead to the world.

He'd just rounded the corner of the entry hall, steps silent, and set the bags he was carrying soundlessly on the table. Relieved at being undetected, he turned toward the living room to his left, trying to get a feel for the place, and actually almost jumped at the sight of a toddler on the couch watching cartoon at a low enough volume that Clint hadn't heard it. Not that he heard much background noise, he'd be the first to admit that his hearing was crap if he wasn't really concentrating, and if he kept refusing to use earplugs before setting off explosive arrows, there were a pair of hearing aids in his future. The boy looked at Clint with the open, curious expression all kids had. "Are you here for my mommy?"

"That depends who your mommy is."

The kid ignored his question. "Are you Clint?"

"Yeah. What's your name?"

"My name is Dmitri Romanoff."

Natasha's voice filtered towards them from a bedroom down the hall. "Dmitri, baby, who are you talking to?"

Clint shook his head quickly and put a finger to his lips, trying to get the boy to understand that he wanted him to be quiet. Clearly, he understood because he shouted, "Nobody, Mommy, I'm just talking to my cartoons."

She sounded amused when she called back, "Oh yeah? Why?"

"Shaggy ate all the snacks again."

"How rude." There was a pause before her voice got closer and had Clint diving around the corner to the entry hall so not to be seen. "Only one more episode, okay? You know too much TV isn't good for you."

"I know, Mommy."

"Good. I'm going to lay down until your episode is done and then I'll make us some breakfast. How do pancakes sound?"

"Yummy!"

Her chuckle followed her down the hall as she presumably went back to her room, and Clint stuck is head around the corner, looking around. The boy giggled at him, waving him over and whispering, "It's okay, she gone."

Clint smiled at him, taking in his features and remarking on how similar they were to his partner's. Matching, the boy's tone, he said, "Did you know that today is your mommy's birthday?"

Dmitri nodded. "She sayed she didn't want nothin big, I jus made her a card."

Clint grinned. This, he could work with. "I came here to set up some stuff. Do you want to help me?"

Dmitri nodded excitedly and the two worked quickly to get the banner and streamers set up, and Clint had the cake set up on the table, twenty-three candles carefully in place. Once they were finished, Dmitri ran to craft corner at the back of the living room, dragging Clint by his finger to show him the card he'd made. The thing was doused in glitter and had "Happy birthday, Mommy. Love Dmitri" written in a barely legible scrawl and had a picture of what Clint assumed was Dmitri and Natasha. Once Clint had assured him that the card was perfect, the boy took off down the hall to Natasha's room, Clint following and lingering around the corner to listen in. From the puff of a body hitting the mattress and the slight groan from Natasha, Clint suspected that the kid had launched himself into her bed and probably on her. "Happy birthday, Mommy!"

"Thank you, Sweetheart."

"I made you a card."

"Did you now?"

"Uh, huh. Auntie Maria helped me put the sparkles on it." 'Auntie Maria', huh? Clint would have to press her on that later.

Paper moved and Clint supposed she was looking at the glittery atrocity. "I love it."

"I know you like sparkles, and you said I should always ask for help with them, so I asked Auntie Maria."

"And I'm so proud of you. I love you."

"I love you too!" There was a pause, and then, "I have a 'nother surprise for you, Mommy."

"Really?"

"Yeah! C'mon!"

Clint booked it down the hall and leaned casually against the kitchen table, a grin on his face as the two rounded the corner. "Surprise!"

The redhead tried unsuccessfully to stifle a gasp. "Clint? How'd you get in here?"

"Well, you gave me a key."

She ran a hand over her face. "For emergencies only, Birdbrain. What exactly constituted an emergency today?"

"Well, Phil so kindly texted me today and let me know it was your birthday, and since you told me you'd never had a good one… Well, I'm looking to fix that."

Natasha sighed with a smile and looked down to Dmitri. "You were talking to him, weren't you?"

The boy smiled back bashfully. "I'm sorry I lied, but Clint said he was setting stuff up for your birthday. I wanted you to be happy. Are you happy, Mommy?"

She laughed and picked him up, kissing him soundly on the cheek. "I've very happy."

"Good. Cause I don't like when you're sad."

Clint watched the scene affectionately before raising an eyebrow. "Well, aren't you going to introduce me, Nat?"  
Natasha rolled her eyes. "Dmitri, this is my partner Clint. Clint, this is my son, Dmitri."

The toddler barely seemed to notice, too absorbed now in trying to lean away from his mom and steal some frosting off of the cake.

The morning passed quickly, the three eating pancakes and cake and Natasha opened the arrow necklace he'd gotten her, her partner cheekily telling her she could never forget him with it on. Soon, it was time for Dmitri's nap, and the two adults sat at the table sipping coffee in silence before Clint got the courage to speak. "So, you have a son."

She sighed. "Yes. He's a little over two."

"He talks very well for his age."'

Her chest puffed out a little and she smiled widely. "He does. Doctors say that despite being born early, he won't have any developmental stunts. And he's already passing their tests with flying colors. He's smart."

"I'd expect nothing less from your kid." They sat in silence for a couple moments, but Clint couldn't be held off for long. "So, you had him…"

"Before I met you. Not long, mind you. Only a couple months. I got pregnant when I was still with my former employers and when I found out, I started trying to get out. When they found out, I made sure I succeeded."

Well, didn't that just open up a whole new line of questions. "And his father?"

The assassin shifted uncomfortably in her chair, and the action alone made pride swell is Clint's chest. If she was showing her emotions, she was comfortable with him. She was trusting him to see her weakness. "I don't know. I don't remember much because of the brainwashing, but Ivan claimed him. Whether or not it's true, I don't know, but that's what he said."

Clint nodded, letting the information sink in for a moment for plastering a smile onto his face. "So, how come Auntie Maria got to meet him before I did?"

Natasha laughed.

**A/N 2: There it is. Also, on another note, I absolutely hate the summary I came up with for this story, so if one of y'all wants to suggest another one, feel free to PM me or leave a review with the suggestion. If I decide to use it, I promise to credit you with it! Love you all 3000!**


	4. Pepper Potts

**A/N: What's up guys! Back at it, this time with Pepper Potts. Takes place during Iron Man 2. Thanks for all the support, I hope you enjoy this!**

Natasha loved her job. Truly, she did. She got to work on the good side of things, or a least the better side, and while the missions kept her away from Dmitri more than she'd like, they were at least fulfilling, and she made it back home in one piece.

However, the Stark assignment was difficult to say the least. It was a long con and required her to be in her position for months on end while she got information on Stark and what was going on with the stupid thing in his chest. Her only saving grace was that Coulson let her take Dmitri with her so she wouldn't have to bounce back and forth between DC and Malibu while she worked. Even better, since it was a pretty safe assignment, and really only required her on a nine to five schedule, she got to spend more and more time with her son.

The current problem? There was no one to watch Dmitri. He was the most easygoing kid on the planet, but he had the flu and wanted nothing more than his mother at his side at all times. It didn't help that Maria was on her own assignment at the moment and wasn't watching him like he was used to and there was no sitter she'd trust in the county, not to mention the fact that Clint was watching some hammer in the desert, leaving Natasha completely and utterly screwed. As much as she hated to do it knowing there was a big meeting happening at SI that day, she couldn't see another way around it. She was going to have to call out. Sighing, she picked up the phone and dialed. "This is Pepper Potts."

"Hi, Ms. Potts, it's Natalie. I don't think I'm going to be able to make it in today."

"What? But we really need you here. There's a mountain or work that has to be done by closing today and I'm going to be with the board for most of it, so I need you to handle a few things."

Natasha had taken the call outside of Dmitri's bedroom, so it was easy to hear when he called out, "Mommy, I need another tissue." Though, his nose was stuffed, so it sounded more like 'Bommy' than 'Mommy'.

"Just a second, Sweetheart; Mommy's on the phone."

Pepper's voice softened when she heard the exchange. "Sick kid?"

Natasha sighed. "Yeah. My son. I can't for the life of me find someone to watch him. The woman that usually watches him is on vacation, my best friend is out of town for work, and the neighbor decided to take up college classes. I couldn't even get someone from one of those agencies down here!"

The CEO chuckled. "That's how I feel with Tony sometimes, but him I can usually leave in Jarvis's care." She paused. "I really do need you here today, there's no getting around that, but you can bring him if you'd like."

"Thank you so much! I promise he'll behave, he's a great kid."

"Not a problem. See you soon."

Natasha hung up and hurried into Dmitri's room, snagging a tissue from the box on his desk and wiping his nose. "Baby, Mommy needs to go to work, but my boss said that you can come, too."

He looked up at her through glazed green eyes. "Uncle Phil said I can go?"

"No, this is a different boss. Her name is Pepper and she's very nice, but you'll have to be on your best behavior."

"Otay, Mommy."

She rushed to pack a bag with some coloring pages and picture books for him to read while she worked before taking a pair of jeans out of the closet and dressing him, frowning at how warm he felt. With him on her hip, she went to the bathroom, setting him down on the counter while she rummaged in the medicine cabinet for the cold medicine. She measured it into a cup and offered it to him. "You have a fever. This will make you feel better."

He nodded and took it willingly, though his face wrinkled at the taste and he stuck his tongue out. "That was gross."

"I know, baby, I know."

They got to the office fairly quickly and Natasha took care to take the private elevator to the top, avoiding as many people as possible. Luck was on her side as Pepper was the only one there, and Natasha offered the older woman a smile. "Sorry I'm late, it took a bit to get Dmitri ready."

Dimitri smiled at the CEO from where he had his head laying heavy on her shoulder. "Hi."

Pepper grinned back. "Hi, Dmitri."

"My mommy said you're her boss and that you're nice."

"I am you're mommy's boss."

"Are you nice?"

Pepper chuckled. "Well, I certainly like to think so."

"Good. Cause my daddy wasn't nice to a don't like him."

Natasha paled, head swinging quickly to look at him. "Not here, sweetheart. We don't talk about stuff like that when I'm at work."

Dmitri shrugged unapologetically. "I just had to make sure."

"I know, but we just don't talk about that."

He nodded and she kissed his temple before putting him down at her desk and getting him settled with a coloring book where he started on a picture of a transformer.

Natasha stood back and pursed her lips before awkwardly making her way back to her boss's side. "I'm sorry about what he said. We haven't really discussed boundaries yet. He's still learning what's home talk and what to say to other people."

Pepper nodded understandingly, before looking at her assistant. "If you don't mind my asking… His father. What happened?"

Natasha took a deep breath, preparing the details of the cover story she'd created in case of this exact scenario. "His father was an abusive drunk that didn't want a son. He yelled at Dmitri all the time, even though he was only a year old. He never touched him, thank god, but it was an experience. I don't think he really remembers him, per se. Just knows what I've told others what happened. I try to keep it as far away from his as I can, but he's four. He wants to know things and he's not above sneaking around to hear what he can. I'm just trying to put it off as long as possible. I want him to be blissfully ignorant for as long as possible. He doesn't need that darkness in his life." It was close enough to the truth that the emotions were real and covered all her bases.

The CEO sighed sadly, her voice a little choked. "I'm so sorry, Natalie. If you need anything, anytime. If you don't feel safe… Just let me know."

Natasha smiled. "thank you. I really appreciate it."

The other woman nodded with a kind smile. A week later, Pepper and Natasha were sat next to each other on the way to a SHIELD base for debrief, the former still in shock over the fact the Natasha was a spy. Tony was sleeping off the fight in the bedroom of his private jet, far enough away that Pepper felt comfortable talking freely. "Is Dmitri really-"

"Yes. He is."

"And his father?"

"Not a nice man."

The CEO nodded, accepting the terse answers, figuring the spy didn't want her digging anymore into her life. "Okay."

The rest of the flight was spent in silence.


	5. Tony Stark

**A/N: I'mmmmmm baaaaaccccckkkk. Hope you enjoy this chapter of Tony meeting little Romanoff. Still looking for suggestions for a new summary if anyone's got an ideas. Love you all!**

Following the Battle of New York, Tony asked (bribed with cool stuff) everyone to move into Stark Tower. He said that if the Avengers were going to keep Avenger-ing, a word he insisted was real considering he'd just made it up, they needed somewhere to stay where they wouldn't have to run around the globe to collect them all. And while most of the occupants would have been happier to stay at their own places, they couldn't find any fault in Tony's logic and begrudgingly moved in, though Natasha did make the condition that she made up her own plans for her floor, which suited Tony just fine. He didn't think that getting into an assassin superspy's business seemed like a good idea and would rather step back from the whole thing- though he did look at her plans from time to time and made minor adjustments to make her more comfortable. He'd deny that until he was blue in the face, though. He chose life, thanks.

It was only a couple of days after Natasha had moved in that he went down to her floor to tell her about the mission that Avengers had just been assigned. Some HYDRA cell was operating in the Midwest according to rumors and Fury wanted them to look into.

Just as he got off of the elevator, someone raced past him, a blur of dark hair and pale skin almost knocking into the billionaire, but turning at the last moment. Natasha was hot on their tail, and Tony almost felt bad for whoever this kid was. "Dmitri Nicolai Romanoff, if you do not get back here right this instant, I promise you that you won't be allowed to watch cartoons for a week."

Rather than slowing down at the threat, the kid seemed to speed up. "I don't want to go to the doctor, Mommy!"

Natasha finally caught up to the kid and grabbed him, wrapping him up in her arms and settling him on her hip. "I know that, Lovebug, but you fell. I just want to make sure you're okay."

Tony chuckled, thoroughly giving away his position, though how he'd remained unnoticed until that point was beyond him. "Mommy Natasha, I never saw it coming."

The spy gave him her infamous glare, making him step back a little (only a little, he was Iron Man for god's sake!). "What are you doing here, Stark? I thought we agreed you wouldn't show up uninvited."

"Just letting you know that Fury called. We have a mission, though it doesn't seem very concrete and I'm sure he wouldn't object to you skipping out to take care of the little guy."

Her eyes narrowed just a little and Tony found himself regretting his words. How the hell did she manage to be so intimidating? "Fury doesn't know and I plan on keeping it like that. Am I understood?"

"One hundred percent." He weighed his next words carefully. "What happened to the little man, anyway?"

A fond smile appeared on her lips. "Someone was trying to make an escape to Clint's floor last night while I was making dinner, and fell down the stairs. He hit his head pretty hard. I just wanted to make sure he was okay."

Dmitri grinned, eyes flitting back and forth between Tony and his mother. "No doctor?"

Tony laughed. "Sorry, Sport. I'm sure that your mom's going to find someone to take you."

The kid pouted, "But if you're all going to fight the bad guys, Auntie Maria's probably busy, too."

Natasha seemed to consider it, then brightened. "Is Pepper here?"

"Yeah, why?"

"She can take him. She's on his emergency contact list and she's taken him to a couple appointments before."

The billionaire genius's jaw dropped. "You told Pepper and not me?"

"He was sick one day when I was still pretending to be Natalie Rushman. I had to bring him in with me because there was too much work to do."

"Honestly, hurt and offended."

Natasha rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to her son. "Dmitri, this is Iron Man. Tony, Dmitri."

The boy's eyes widened. "Iron Man?"

Tony grinned. "Yup."

"That's so cool! You fought the aliens with my mom and-and beat the bad guy in California, and fought Loki! You're awesome!"

"Tell you what, if you're good for your mom and you go to the doctor with Pepper, I'll let you come and see my suit."

Dmitri's eyes widened and he looked like all Christmases had come at once. "Really?"

"Really, really." Natasha glared at him again, and he backpedaled. "Of course, it would be one of the new marks without weapons or anything dangerous at all and only if your mom says it's okay." He realized belatedly that he probably should have asked Natasha before just offering that up, but the kid was so cute and excited and how was he supposed to let him down?

The boy looked up at his mom. "Can? Please? I promise I'll be good for Auntie Pepper!"

The redheaded assassin sighed. "Okay, Lovebug. But only if Pepper says you were on your best behavior."

He grinned and squirmed out of her arms, dropping to the floor and running off to get dressed. Natasha sighed, smiling happily after her. "Can you go get Pepper now? I want to brief her before we have to leave on the mission."

"Sure." Still he lingered for a moment, a sly grin sliding onto his face. "So… This must mean that you and Birdboy have been doing it for a while, then, huh?"

He fled the room when her eyes flashed dangerously, and a shoe bounced off his head as he ran for the elevator.

**A/N: To answer a question left by a guest, I'm hoping to update this story once every week or week and a half, but sometimes life gets in the way. I won't leave you hanging for months on end though, pinky swear. Thanks to all the reviews, favs and follows!**


	6. Thor

**A/N: Thanks for all the support! This time, we've got Thor meeting with our favorite mini-escape artist.**

It had been a long day for Thor. First, he'd been on Asgard fighting the frost giants when they took advantage of his father's Odinsleep to attack. Then, he'd been called by the Avengers to help raid a HYDRA base that turned out to be nothing of the sort. Well, it _was_ being used by some gun runners, but it wasn't HYDRA and it was all over quickly, to the team's relief. They'd taken the time to have lunch before returning to the Tower- Tony had insisted on shawarma- and Thor was more than ready to head to his floor and go to sleep. He stopped in the kitchen for a few minutes to down a glass of water and have a pop tart before stepping onto the elevator with the intention of going to his own quarters. The problem was that the elevator didn't move that way, but rather to Lady Natasha's floor instead. Thor was far too tired to question it, and just went along for the ride, figuring that at some point, Stark's talking walls would take him to where he was supposed to go.

Once on Lady Natasha's level, the doors opened, and a small boy darted inside the elevator, startling Thor into paying attention. The child pressed the button to what Thor recognized as Tony's R&D level, and smiled charmingly up at him. "Hi."

Thor couldn't help but smile back. "Hello, there, Little One. What is your name?"

"Dmitri Romanoff."

That shocked the god even more. "I wasn't aware that Lady Natasha had a child." She certainly never talked about him, but Thor understood that she was a private person, and perhaps didn't want to advertise her personal life. Still, he felt this was something he should have known at some point.

The young Romanoff remained unfazed. "Mom likes to keep me a secret because my father was really mean and she doesn't want him to find us."

"I see." Thor pondered those words for several moments. The child was candid, and that was something he could appreciate, however something told him that he had had more than enough information bestowed upon him. He knew that he wouldn't like people knowing those kind of details about himself if he were in the child's shoes, and he figured Natasha would prefer he not know anything at all. It put him in a bit of a situation. "Perhaps it would be better if I didn't tell anyone about out meeting?"

Dmitri smiled up at him. "Yes, please."

"Then it shall be done."

They spend the rest of the ride in silence and Thor felt his weariness settle in again, only for it to be shot away for the second time as the elevator stopped on the lab floor, the doors opening to an angry Black Widow. Natasha glared at the two of them. "You are in so much trouble, young man."

Dmitri gulped audibly. "I was just going to see Uncle Tony's suit."

Natasha sighed and picked the boy up. "I know Uncle Tony said you could, but you have to ask me first or at least talk to Tony. Do you know how worried I was when I came out of the shower and you were gone? How scared? You know why I do what I do. It's all to keep you safe."

The boy's eyes watered and he sniffled. "I know, Mommy. I just get alonely is all."

The spy pressed a kiss to Dmitri's temple. "I know. But you can't scare me like that, so you can't see the Iron Man suit tonight. You'll come back tomorrow instead."

His head hung down in shame when his mother placed him back on his feet, his tone morose. "Okay."

"But," a smiled played on her lips as she dragged out the word. "We can go to the park instead. Would that make you happy?"

The boy's face lit up. "Really?"

"Really. Go back downstairs while I told to Mr. Thor."

"Okay! Bye, Mr. Thor!"

Thor stepped off of the elevator to talk to Natasha, waving at Dmitri while the elevator doors closed, before turning to the redhead, waiting for her to speak first.

It didn't take long for her to do so. "I would appreciate if you didn't tell anyone about him."

He nodded. "I understand, Lady Natasha. Your son explained everything to me and I have sworn my silence on the matter, on my honor."

Natasha smiled. "Thank you. He's the only real family I have left and I can't lose him."

"Of course. Should anything happen, know I would fight for him like my own blood. He may not be family, but he is yours and that makes him apart of this team. And I always protect my team."

"I appreciate that."

The elevator dinged behind him, but Thor left it for a moment, staring seriously at his teammate and laying a heavy hand on her shoulder. "Just know one thing. No matter who is related to you or not. Who has been against your side or fought by it. Regardless of what will ever happen; you will always have family in me."

Before she could say anything more on the matter, Thor smiled and stepped backwards into the elevator, watching the doors close. The metal box ascended to his floor, and within moments he was in his bed, fast asleep, visions of future battles with his new teams dancing his head.

**A/N: So I know I made Thor a bit of a softy in this, but I kind of always saw him as a goofball who just genuinely loved people. I would think that his team is his family, if his interactions with Sif and the Warriors Three were any indication. Anywho, I'll get off my soapbox. See y'all later.**


	7. Bruce Banner

Bruce paced the small space of the elevator, forcing the stress down before it drew out the Other Guy. He'd gotten a call from someone on Natasha's floor that was very worried that something was wrong. The voice was young, which only concerned him more, so he'd grabbed his medical bag and taken off. He burst through her door to find a boy with brown hair shaking Natasha's shoulder and crying for her to wake up. Hearing Bruce's entrance, he turned scared eyes on him. "Can you help my mommy? She won't wake up and she told me you were a doctor and if anything happened, I should call you, so I called you."

Bruce kneeled next to the couch where Natasha was laying. "Calm down, Buddy and tell me what happened."

The boy took a deep, shuddery breath and nodded. "Mommy went to work so Auntie Maria watched me and when Mommy came home, she said she was tired, and she fell asleep on the couch. And now she won't wake up and there's a lot of blood all around her."

Bruce nodded, gently nudging the boy out of his way and checked his teammate's wound. The gash was six inches long and on her stomach, but didn't seem to be deep enough to damage anything, just to cause some scary blood loss. There were a couple poor stitches put in, not nearly enough to close the wound, and he figured she must have done them herself. Both her shirt and the couch were damp with blood and Bruce knew he would be giving her a strict lecture leaving a wound like that without care and then also about her son.

The kid had been crying in earnest since he revealed the gash and he figured he probably should have gotten him out of the way before doing so, but he also figured that time was of the essence. "It's okay, Buddy. She's going to be fine. I'm going to make sure of it."

"Okay." He paused, fat tears still rolling down his face. "Can I go get Uncle Clint?"

Finally, a way to get him out of the room. "Yeah, you go to that."

The boy ran from the room and Bruce opened his bag, putting in fine, precise stitches that actually closed the wound before taping a piece of gauze over it and giving her a tetanus shot just in case because God only knew when the last time she had one was, and there was no telling what caused the gash.

The kid returned with Clint in tow just as he was finishing up, the archer visibly confused as to why he was being dragged by the hand through the tower. "Dmitri, what is the matter with you?"

"Mommy's hurt."

Clint didn't have to be dragged, then, the Avenger scooping up under his arm and rounding the corner to the living room where he found the two. "How's it looking, Doc?"

"She'll need a transfusion, but once her levels are up, she'll be back to normal."

Clint bared his arm. "Hook me up."

Bruce had long since learned that it was pointless to argue with either of the master assassins and did as instructed. Within the hour, Bruce was content that she was no longer quite so pale and collapsed into a chair to fall asleep.

The next morning, Natasha woke up to find Bruce in that same chair, Clint and Dmitri curled up together, all three asleep. She fought a groan as she pushed her way into a sitting position, grimacing at the blood caked on both her and the couch. She turned to get the stain remover from the kitchen when she heard a sniffle and looked back to see her son with dried tears on his face, eyes still puffy and nose still running. And she'd be lying if she said that didn't make her feel like a piece of shit. She hadn't wanted to worry him with an overnight stay in the infirmary, but clearly had done so anyway with this mess.

She put the thought out of her mind for the moment so she could clean the couch, but still felt an overwhelming amount of guilt about it all as she cleaned up the blood, though still thankful the couch was black and hid most of the mess. She jumped in the shower to clean herself off, rebandaged her wound and tossed the shirt she'd been wearing in the trash, writing it off as a lost cause.

Natasha was just about finished making breakfast when her son flew into the kitchen and into her arms. "Mommy!"

Natasha slung him onto her hip, ignoring the pull of stitches. "Shh, Love Bug, everything's fine."

"You were hurt! You said you would be safe!"

"I know, Baby, and I'm sorry. One of the bad guys was very angry at me."

"Did you beat his ass?"

That made the assassin startle. "Where in the world did you hear that?"

"Uncle Tony told me that you kick bad guy ass."

Natasha sighed. She was going to have to have a very long talk with Uncle Tony and minding his language. "We don't use those kinds of words."

He looked up at her, all six-year-old innocence. "What words, Mom?"

She was seriously going to get back at Tony for this. She considered a moment. Perhaps telling Pepper would be enough. "Ass is a bad word and we don't use it."

"Okay. I'm still sad you got hurt, though."

"I'm okay now. I promise."

Dmitri seemed satisfied with that and kissed her cheek, squirming to get out of her grasp. Bruce sought her out not a moment later. "How are you feeling."

"Better. I'm guessing I have you to thank for that."

"Dmitri, actually. He called me. Said you were hurt and that he knew I was a doctor. Don't know how many times I have to tell you people that I'm not that kind of doctor."

Natasha arched an eyebrow. "And what was it again, that you were up to when I found you before New York?"

His jaw worked for a moment while he tried to find an excuse. "Fine. You win."

She smiled, though it lost its brightness after a moment as her eyes drifted to her son. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about Dmitri. His father is still looking for us and he's getting close. He's the one that cut me. I need to protect him now more than ever."

"I won't tell a soul."

He left after breakfast, and Natasha put Dmitri down for a nap, knowing he was getting to be told old for them, but also that he'd had a long night, before picking up her phone and hitting the second speed dial. "Pepper? It's Natasha. You won't believe what Dmitri just told me Tony taught him."

**A/N: Holy shit, would you look at that. There's a little plot in this one. The next one's gonna have a lot of plot. Crazy, I know. Sorry it took me so long to update. I went out of state on vacation and had access to neither wifi, nor a computer, which complicates things. I hope y'all enjoy! Still holding out hope that someone will come up with a better summary that the BS I have up. Love y'all 3000!**


	8. Steve Rogers

**A/N: Trigger warnings for this chapter for non-descriptive past non-con and violence since I've never really had a lot of that in here before. **

**A/N2: Quick shoutout to Princess2020 who has been reading this story since the first time I posted it and supporting it. At this point, 99% of the reason I've been updating is because of you. Not many people seem very interested, but for you, I'll finish it!**

**A/N3: Behold! The Plot!**

It started out as a normal Saturday for Steve. Saturdays were movie days, so most of the team was on the communal floor, watching Star Trek. The only one missing, was Natasha, who seemed to be spending more and more time on her own floor, to the Captain's suspicion and concern. She was skittish and looked worried all the time, and he wished she would just confide in him and let him help her. They'd all been living in the Tower for a year now and he just wanted to get to know his teammate.

Just a minute later, the elevator dinged, and Natasha got off, lifting Steve's heart. Perhaps she was going to join them for the movie? The hope was dashed when he saw the way her shoulders shook with sobs and her eyes were red with tears. It was quickly replaced with fear because Natasha was the toughest person he knew and if she was crying, something bad had happened. Clint was across the room in a heartbeat, arms around her- there had to be something there, Steve mused. "Nat, what's wrong?"

"They took him! They took Dmitri!"

Steve didn't know who Dmitri was, but he was about ready to punch whoever took him into the next century. Pepper was out of her seat in a flash, moving forward to comfort the spy. "Who took him? Is he okay? Was there any sort of ransom?"

Tony nodded from the couch. "I'll pay whatever it takes to get him home."

The assassin shook her head sadly. "I just got the call. Ivan found us. Maria took him to the park and Ivan knocked them out and took them. He called me to gloat." She sniffled. "I'm so stupid. I never should have let them go in the first place, but Maria wanted to spent time with him and he wanted to go out. It seemed like the perfect arrangement. I thought he would be safe."

Bruce stood from the couch as well. "There was no way you could have known what was going to happen. You can't spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder. He was bound to go out at some point. This isn't your fault."

Clint kissed the top of her head. "We'll find them and bring the back. And I think everyone is willing to help. Cap, too, once we key him in."

Steve nodded, standing and crossing to his teammate's side. "Whatever it takes, Nat. Just let me in."

Natasha sighed. "Before I came to SHIELD, I worked for the KGB. They trained me from a young age to be what I am now, but I was fighting their programming and it frustrated them, so they amped up the brainwashing and wiped anything them deemed unimportant. I don't remember much about my time there, but I know that I was freaked out when I found out I was pregnant." Crap. Someone took her son? Steve was about to make sure this person never touched anyone again. No one messes with family.

"I don't remember, per se, who his father is, but my trainer, Ivan, claimed Dmitri. Said I had been given to him most recently." Steve would be damned if he said that wording didn't make him cringe. "He always told me Dmitri would be perfect for a position in the Academy. Born for it." She shook her head, tears trailing down her cheeks. "I knew I had to get out, then and there. I wasn't going to let him live that life. He deserved more. I defected. And that's when Clint found me and brought me to SHIELD. And now he's back."

Steve nodded, trying to keep his emotions in check and his head on straight. "Did he say where he was?"

She shook her head. "Just that he would call back soon to tell me."

The group suited up and waited with bated breath for that call. It came almost an hour later. Natasha took it and yelled some Russian into the phone before hanging up, cheeks red with anger. "He said he'd give me one chance to save Dmitri. He's allowing one person to go with me to take them home. It means Maria's probably hurt."

Steve frowned. "It sounds like a trade."

"It is. I go back to Russia and the others go home."

Clint shook his head. "No. There has to be another way. I'm not letting you go back to that hellhole."

Natasha bit her lip. "I have to, Clint. I'm not letting them take my son."

Steve held up his hands. "Ivan isn't taking anyone anywhere. We make the trade, let him think that he's won, but before you leave, we come in and take him and whoever else is there out."

The rest of the team nodded their agreement and Clint took a deep breath. "I'm going in with you, Nat."

Steve shook his head. "I'll be going in with Natasha."

The archer's eyes flared. "Dmitri's going to want me there."

"That may be what he wants, but what be needs is someone who can go in there level-headed. Can you really say that you won't shoot Ivan in the face the second you walk in there?" He took Clint's silence as an answer and they prepared.

FS FS FS FS FS FS FS FS FS FS FS FS FS FS FS FS FS FS FS FS FS FS FS FS FS FS FS FS

Steve entered the warehouse a step behind Natasha, two guards having greeted them at the door and stripped them of weapons. Steve was glad he'd left his shield on the quinjet; something told him those two weren't the kind to give them back what they took. The further they made their way in, Dmitri's cries could be heard. Once they were close enough, it because clear what he was saying. "I want my mommy!"

This made fresh tears fall on Natasha's face and Steve's blood boil in anger. Still, Maria's voice sounded as she tried to soothe the boy. "Shh, Dmitri, it'll be okay. I'm sure your mom's on her way here right now to come and kick these people's asses."

Natasha pushed past the final door separating them and gave the SHIELD agent a weak smile. "What did I tell you about cursing around him? He picks all this up, you know."

Maria grinned and Dmitri started bouncing in the chair he'd been tied to. "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!"

Natasha freed him while Steve worked on Maria's bonds, the soldier taking in the cuts and bruises decorating her body and the red patch on the white shirt she was wearing. Meanwhile, Natasha had pulled Dmitri into a tight hug, kissing his temple a few times. "I'm right here, Love. I told you I would never let anyone take you, didn't I?"

Dmitri nodded and Natasha held him close for a moment longer before passing him off to Steve. "You guys get out of here before Ivan comes back."

Maria frowned. "You're not coming with us?"

The assassin shook her head sadly. "That was the deal. You guys for me. I can't let anyone else- least of all, my son- get hurt because of me."

Steve scooped up the now struggling boy and wrapped an arm around Hill's waist to help her out of the place when Natasha called out his name. "Tell Clint I love him."

"I will."

At that moment, an older man with greying hair and a scar slashed across his cheek stepped out of the shadows and scowled at the redhead before shaking his head and delivering a rough backhand to Natasha's cheek, sending her sprawling. "Love is for children, Natalia. I thought I taught you that."

Natasha glared at him defiantly. "You were wrong."

Ivan only clucked his tongue in disapproval and looked to Steve. "Take the boy and woman away. I will honor my deal." He then turned his eyes on Dmitri, an evil grin spreading across his face. "Goodbye, my son. We will meet again another day."

The seven-year-old in question folded his arms against his chest and glared. "I'm never going with you. I hate you. And my mommy's going to kick your ass."

A laugh bubbled out of Natasha from her place on the floor. "You're right, Baby. I'm going to kick his ass and when I get home, we'll go for ice cream."

Dmitri grinned, eyes welling with tears. "I love you."

"I love you, too." She motioned for Steve to leave. He did.

An hour later, the rest of the Avengers stormed the warehouse, taking out the guards and making their way to the back room where thermal imaging told them Natasha was being kept. Not really to their surprise, Natasha had already managed to kill Ivan. What did surprise them was that she was been brutally beaten and was clinging to life when they got there. They rushed her to the hospital, and it was in the waiting room there that Steve was formally introduced to the boy he had taken from that warehouse. They hadn't interacted long before then, Steve just passing him off to Clint who took him away to clean up.

It seemed that a bath had been taken because the boy's brown hair was wet and he was in his pajamas, but his green eyes were alert as ever. He grinned at Steve. "Are you Captain America?"

Steve smiled. "I am."

"Mom says you're a good leader. Are you?"

"I certainly try to be."

"Good. I don't want Mom to get hurt so much, so you and Uncle Clint, and Uncle Tony, and Uncle Thor need to keep her safe."

"Not Uncle Bruce?"

Dmitri shook his head. "He helps her when she's already hurt, but Mr. Hulk helps keep her safe, too." He was clearly bright for his age. Steve studied the boy's features, something tugging at his gut. There was a lot of Natasha in him, but there was something else familiar that just wouldn't leave him alone. And yet he couldn't figure out what it was.

Dmitri broke him out of his reverie. "I'm Dmitri Romanoff. I don't think I told you that before."

"It's nice to meet you, Dmitri. I'm Steve."

The boy stared up at him a moment before boosting himself into the chair next to Steve and curling into his side. "I'm going to call you Uncle Steve."

Somehow the affection name brought tears to the soldier's eyes. "I'd like that."

**A/N: Whew, that was a lot of plot. And then there was a little Next Plot sprinkled in. I amaze myself. As always, you all that review and fav and follow make me love writing all the more and I love you 3000.**


	9. Nick Fury

There was a young boy asleep in Clint's arms when Fury arrived at the hospital to ask what the hell had happened to land two of his best agents there in the first place. Fury raised an eyebrow at picture it made but said nothing. The man had a habit of bringing home strays, though there was no telling where- or when- he'd picked this one up. Captain Rogers stood at Fury's entrance. "Director."

"Captain. Would you like to do me the pleasure of explain what in the actual hell happened out there?"

The man nodded. "Well, sir, Agent Romanoff's son and Agent Hill were abducted by the boy's father. His name was Ivan Petrovitch. In order to get him back, it was necessary to send Agent Romanoff into the situation and make that man believe she was going to leave with him. I accompanied her there to remove the hostages from the situation and get them medical attention. We returned about an hour later when security was a little laxer with them thinking that their plot had worked. We took them out and extracted Agent Romanoff, but she was badly injured. She was brought here."

It looked like Fury's eye was going to bug out of his head. "Agent Romanoff has a son? Why wasn't I made aware of this?"

Clint was the one to answer, though it looked like he was slightly concerned at the pure rage that was radiating off of the man. "Nat had just had Dmitri when I brought her to SHIELD. He was the reason she defected. Maria and Phil hid them until Dmitri was old enough to be away from Tasha when she was in the field and could safely be taken care of by a sitter. Even I wasn't told. I only stumbled in on them by accident. Both Phil and Maria agreed that neither you nor the Council should be informed. You would probably insist on removing him from her care, or at the very least, tell the Council, who would do exactly that. Nat didn't want that to happen."

That made the Director scowl, but he understood the reasoning behind it. At the time he'd met her, Fury had been convinced that Agent Romanoff was dangerous and should have been terminated on sight. It was only through heavy arguments in her favor from both Barton and Coulson, and eventually Hill, that made him agree to let her be. Even so, he was bound to a higher power, and would have told them regardless and they would have demanded that the boy be placed with another family. "Fine, but who decided that sending Romanoff in would be a good idea? Petrovitch has had it out for her for years. And not just because she defected." He supposed, now, that the other reason was because she stole his son away from him.

Nobody had noticed that Dmitri was awake until he spoke. "My dad is real mean and he said that Auntie Maria and me could only go home if Mommy stayed with him. I hate him. Uncle Clint is my real Daddy."

Clint held the boy a little tighter and Fury sighed. "Is there any word on Romanoff's condition?"

Stark shook his head, having stayed surprisingly quiet throughout the whole ordeal. Fury supposed it was because his girlfriend was there to keep him from doing anything stupid. He had to give Ms. Potts credit for that. Not many had the patience. "They're still working on her."

"And Hill?"

"Stabbed but stitched up and resting comfortably. Not cleared for visitors, though."

Fury sighed and took a seat away from the rest of the group, figuring that at the very least he was already there and should hang around to figure out how Romanoff had fared. He hated to admit it, but he had a soft spot for the wayward assassin.

Not a moment later, the boy from before was scooting into the seat next to him and staring up at him curiously. "What's your name?"

He eyed the kid. "Fury."

"That's a weird name."

"Well, it's mine."

The boy shrugged. "Okay. I'm Dmitri."

"Nice to meet you."

They sat in silence for a moment before Dmitri sighed and started swinging his legs. "Mom's been in there for a long time. I'm scared she won't be okay."

And if that didn't just melt his damn stone-cold heart. "I'm sure she's fine. Your mom is tough. I've seen her get out of worse spots than this."

"Good. I love her and I don't want her to die."

"She'll be fine." What the hell else does one say? He had no other experience with kids, barring Monica back in the nineties on the trip from hell with Carol. He looked over the boy thoughtfully. He looked about the same age as Monica was then. Maybe just a little younger. "Do you like spaceships?"

The boy's face lit up. "Yeah! I want to be an astronaut when I grow up! I like learning about space in school and the planets and stars and stuff."

"You're in school? How old are you?"

"Seven. I'm in first grade. Mom didn't want me to go to school first, but then Auntie Maria showed her my school and how it has a lot of securiny." He frowned. "Secrity." He heaved a sigh. "People who keep me safe."

Fury nodded. "Security."

"Yeah, that. Auntie Maria said it's like Fort Knox. Whatever that is."

They talked for a little while longer before a man wearing scrubs came out. "Is there a Clint Barton here?"

Clint lurched to his feet. "That would be me." He followed the doctor a little way away before coming back. "He said that Nat was pretty beat up, but she'll make it through just fine."

Fury breathed a sigh of relief and gave Dmitri a high five before agreeing with the rest not to tell the Council about him. It looked like he had another soft spot. One that called him Uncle Fury.


	10. Hulk

**A/N: Man, authors are such crappy updaters. It's me. I'm authors.**

Dmitri sighed as he watched the cartoon reruns on Uncle Bruce's floor. His mom was still in the hospital and Clint (Dad? What should Dmitri call him now?) was there with her. Dmitri had also been there with them for a while, but after he'd knocked over his mom's IV stand while exploring, his dad told him to go wait outside until someone could pick him up. But the problem was that waiting outside was boring! Dmitri wanted to find stuff. He wanted to know how things worked. So he snuck into one of the labs there and accidentally knocked over some chemicals. But how was he supposed to know they were dangerous! Uncle Tony told him not to touch anything in _his_ lab. Dmitri didn't think that applied to _all_ labs! Clint told him that he was in Big Trouble when he got home, but he wanted to make sure his mom would be okay before then. Dmitri didn't understand what the big deal was. He only melted three tables. Uncle Tony blew up three labs! And only two of them were his!

And yet, Uncle Steve took Dmitri back to the Tower and left him with Uncle Bruce since everyone else got called to kick some bad guy… butt. The problem was that staying with Uncle Bruce wasn't fun. He didn't have any coloring books or toys and he wouldn't let Dmitri go get them from his mommy's floor. All he had were reruns of a cartoon he'd seen a million billion times on a tiny TV in the living room. He. Was. Bored.

He slid off of the couch and poked his head around the corner to where Uncle Tony had built Uncle Bruce a lab. He thinks Uncle Tony called it a Man Cave. Dmitri watched him work for several long moments before sneaking up behind him to where there were a bunch of bottles on the table that look more than a little interesting. There were towards the middle of a taller table, so Dmitri had a hard time seeing them, but it looked like there was one a little closer to him that he could possibly reach, and it looked awesome! It was a glass beaker that was half full of something orange and half full of something purple, with what looked like a thin layer of something clear separating them. He wondered what it did.

It sat atop a piece of paper and if Dmitri stretched just right, he could reach it, so he pulled on the paper until the beaker was within his grasp and yanked it towards himself. As he did, the colors mixed and started to smoke, making the boy panic. He quickly shoved the glass container away, tipping it over and causing the liquid to run out and melted the bottom of the other glasses, which caused more mixing which caused more smoke and shattering as some other glasses broke. Dmitri screamed and ducked underneath a different table. Uncle Bruce whirled around at that point, shocked, and saw all the damage and flames starting to grow larger and larger.

Before Dmitri's eyes, his face contorted and the kind doctor grew taller and wider and greener, shirt tearing and falling while his pants stretched. He roared loudly and Dmitri clapped a hand over his mouth to keep from screaming in fear. He'd never seen Mr. Hulk before and while he knew that Mr. Hulk kept his mommy safe, he also looked scary and Dmitri really didn't want to be there anymore.

He watched as Mr. Hulk took in the flames that were starting to spread, huffing out a big sigh before flopping down on top of them and smothering it. Within moments, the fire was out and the giant green rage monster hunched over and started looking at the pictures Uncle Bruce kept on the walls. He walked from one end of the lab to the other and was passing in front of the table Dmitri was hiding under when the boy couldn't hide his fear any longer and whimpered.

Large green feet stopped in front of him and Dmitri would admit to being more than a little terrified when a green face made an appearance.

Hulk huffed again and gently pulled Dmitri out from under the table, one large hand wrapping around his middle. As he did, Dmitri started crying, fat tears rolling down his face as he sobbed in panic. Hulk looked a little sad that he was so scared and patted Dmitri's hair oh so gently. "Hulk not hurt Little Spider. Little Spider no cry."  
Dmitri blinked away more tears as an enormous thumb wiped them from his cheeks. "You're not going to hurt me?"

Hulk shook his head. "Hulk protect Little Spider."

Dmitri smiled at him. "You protect my mommy, right?"

"Hulk like Spider Lady." He frowned. "Where Spider Lady?"

"Mom got hurted. She's in the hospital."

The jolly green giant pouted. "Hulk Miss Spider Lady."

The seven-year-old patted his arm comfortingly. "She'll be back soon. Uncle Bruce says she heals fast."

Hulk nodded and Dmitri grinned at him. "Wanna play a game?"

"Yes."

"Cool." Dmitri thought for a moment. "I like hide and go seek. Have you ever played before?" Hulk shook his head, so the boy continued. "Okay. Well, one of us counts to twenty and the other one hides. When the person counting gets to twenty, they have to find the person hiding. Easy." He looked around the lab. "Well, it might be a little harder. There don't look like there's a lot of good hiding places around." He shrugged. "I'll count first!"

Hulk let him down, and he covered his eyes and started counting. "Nineteen, twenty! Ready or not, here I come!"

When he uncovered his eyes, he saw the Hulk in the corner with his back to him, clearly trying to blend in with the wall. Dmitri smiled widely and pretended to walk around the lab. "I wonder where he went. I just can't find him!"

Hulk peeked over his shoulder, seeing Dmitri looking away, before turning around again. Dmitri wandered around for a little while before shouting "There you are! I found you!"

Hulk whirled around. "I hide good?"

"I almost didn't find you! You hid really good!"

They spent the rest of the day playing around the lab and the rest of the floor. It was the start of a beautiful friendship.

**A/N: So, I'm thinking Goose for the next chapter. Because that sounds like fun. Let me know if that's something worth reading.**


End file.
